Musk’s masks for US hospitals

Donations of tens of thousands of surgical masks and other items are coming from Tesla chief executive Elon Musk to help the US battle the Covid-19 pandemic.

The masks and powered air purifying respirators (PAPR) are being sent to US hospitals faced with medical supply shortages.

Initially, about 50,000 masks were delivered courtesy of Musk and Tesla to Dr Kristina Adams Waldorf on March 22, the delivery noted on Twitter with a photo of them in the doctor’s garage, with more sent to other medicals services.

The donations stem from a global shortage of surgical masks and respirators as countries scramble to get enough supplies for medical staff and health care workers.

The masks are usually supposed to worn only once and then discarded, but some in the US are being advised to keep wearing them – prompting one tweet that it was akin to wearing underpants for more than a day.

The shortage is such that US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (DCP) even suggested homemade masks like bandanas or scarves “as a last resort” for health care providers where face masks are unavailable.

Musk says Tesla is also working on ventilators and about 1200 could be donated soon, the trickiest part likely to be getting them delivered and installed, while Tesla’s also proceeding with other personal protective equipment for the pandemic.

Along with Tesla, GM and Ford have reportedly received Food and Drug Administration approval to work on such equipment.

Ford is working with 3M, GE and UAW to speed production of respirators for healthcare workers and ventilators for coronavirus patients.

In addition, Ford plans to assemble more than 100,000 face shields a week and leverage its in-house 3D printing capability to produce components for use in personal protective equipment.